-1-

The grown-ups' response this time was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar.

Grown-ups like to tell a child to stop doing something they themselves dont understand or something that is not in their "vocabularies".

…and I was proud to have him learn that I could fly.
He cried out then:
'What! You dropped from the sky?'
'Yes,' I answered modestly.
'Oh! That is funny!'
And the little prince broke into a peal of lovely laughter, which irritated me very much. I like my misfortunes to be taken seriously.


These lines make one aware that misfortunes should be taken lightly, as the children do, not like the grown-ups who are very serious in life. Problems should not be taken seriously, lest one is unable to bear them and experiences nervous breakdown. As the song says, "tawanan mo ang iyong problema." We have to follow the little prince's example in laughing at a misfortune, not that of the grown-up's who takes it so seriously even to the point of breaking down.

'That doesn't matter. Draw me a sheep…'
But I had never drawn a sheep. So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often. It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside. And I was astounded to hear the little fellow greet it with,
'No, no, no! I don't want an elephant inside a boa constrictor….'


It is to be noted that when the author showed the little prince his drawing of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant, the little prince understood its meaning, unlike the grown-ups to whom he has shown it. This just shows that children understand each other (although the author at that time was already a grown-up), whatever the background of the other child. Grown-ups on the other hand always need things to be explained to them and are prejudiced of other people whom they perceive to be different from them.

Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you have made a friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, 'What does his voice sound like? What game does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?' Instead, they demand: 'How old is he? How may brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much does his father make?' Only from this figures do they think they have learned anything about him.


Grown-ups love figures and judge other people and other things using this standard. They become oblivious to the essential matters to know these people better. They put so much weight on the numerical and monetary values of people and things, therefore, providing a barrier in developing associations with other people. This is probably one of the biggest differences between children and grown-ups. Children don't care about what the other child is wearing, his family's wealth, or how he looks. They just hang around together without any qualms and any concern about figures, without taking into consideration who, what, and how much their playmates have.

I pointed out to the little prince that baobabs were not little bushes, but, on the contrary, trees as big as castles; and that even if he took a whole herd of elephants away with him, the herd would not eat up one single baobab.
The idea of the herd of elephants made the little prince laugh.
'We would have to put them one on top of the other,' he said.
But he made a wise comment:
'Before they grow so big, the baobabs start out by being little.'


The little prince has a very simple course of reasoning and thinking, as indicated by his answer that they may have to put the elephants on top of the other in order for them to eat the baobabs. Grown-ups have complex reasoning and thinking probably because they are very much exposed to the many ways of life and are often confused.

Indeed, as I learned, there were on the planet where the little prince lived - as on all planets - good plants and bad plants. In consequence, there were good seeds from good plants, and bad seeds from bad plants. But seeds are invisible. They sleep deep in the heart of the earth's darkness, until someone among them is seized with the desire to awaken. Then this little seed will stretch itself and begin - timidly at first - to push a charming little sprig inoffensively upward towards the sun. If it is only a sprout of radish or the sprig of a rose-bush, one would let it grow wherever it might wish. But when it is a bad plant, one must destroy it as soon as possible, the very first instant that one recognizes it.

Now there were some terrible seeds on the planet that was the home of the little prince; and these were the seeds of the baobab. The soil of that planet was infested with them. A baobab is something you will never, never be able to get rid of if you attend to it too late. It spreads over the entire planet. It bores clear through it with its roots. And if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces….
'It is a question of discipline.'


It is just a matter of discipline that the baobabs have to be pulled out while they are yet harmless because as they grow, they become bigger and bigger, thereby splitting a small planet in pieces. This may have different meanings such as:

a) early in life, a child should be reared up to be good and be disciplined properly to "cut off" his "horns" that he may not bring problems and disgrace to his family and to himself;

b) problems should be solved while they are still very small, not waiting until these become too big and too difficult to solve that require drastic measures to be taken;

c) and, deviant behavior should be corrected, as soon as someone becomes aware of its existence that it may not develop into a criminal instinct. One thing is certain however, there is nothing good in procrastinating since this just brings regret later on.

• The author understood the urgency of this situation that he was able to make the drawing of the baobabs his most beautiful one. At this point, the grown-up and the child agree.

On making his discovery, the (Turkish) astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said….
Fortunately, however, for the reputation of asteroid B-612, A Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects under pain of death, should change to European costume. So in 1921 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again, dressed with impressive style and elegance. And this time everybody accepted his report.


People, particularly the grown-ups are belittling other people who are not like them, even to the point of putting these people out of place. Grown-ups put so much emphasis on the appearance of other people, judging them on their physical attributes, without regard to their inner qualities. The author did a fine job in citing this practice without offending the people concerned. However, this practice should be avoided, if not, eliminated.

You know - one loves the sunset, when one is so sad…


Due to the small size of the little prince's planet, he could see the sunset as many times as he liked. This situation gives an idea that children experience pleasure by simple things not like the grown-ups that are often confused with what makes them happy. The author cited that one loves the sunset when one is sad because the sunset means hope for another day (after the sunset, a new day begins). A person who is sad, with lots of problems and disappointments get inspiration and hope that maybe tomorrow, he will no longer be sad and disappointed. Another meaning of this is that, the sunset signifies the end of the day. When one is experiencing sadness and having troubles for the whole day, the sunset brings a feeling of relief that a bad day has ended.

It is such a secret place, the land of tears.


The author realized that a person crying is not easily understood. He pointed this out in the statement above (that the land of tears is such a secret place). Even today, people in tears have a difficulty in relating their reasons for crying, and other people often have a hard time understanding them. One does not know whether the person is crying because of grief and sorrow, or because of joy and happiness unless the person crying tells the reason why he is.

Chapter 8 (The rose's arrival on the prince's planet)


There are some people who just go on with life without a care in the world, without any contribution to its progress. Some however are very conscious of how they can make the world better and affect other people by their behavior and qualities, like the unique flower in the little prince's planet (Chapter 8). However, if these people do wrong or are mistaken in their courses of action, the other people who look upon them are often disappointed, since they are regarded as people who can change the world. This can be seen in the cases of politicians and other people who are on the limelight. But these people often become proud and demanding because of the attention they are getting, as did the little flower. They are often placed on high pedestals that when they "fall" the people who are taking them as models are disappointed.